Girafe au dessus des nuages

This photograph is part of the Land of lions, series, an extract from the best by photographer Laurent Baheux. Whoever has had the opportunity to observe the great African fauna in its natural surroundings knows about this indefinable feeling, a mix of respect, fascination and incredulity faced with so much beauty and strength. As one of his photos alone is worth a thousand words, here is the translation of this feeling... The day that you wake up in Africa, will be when this is revealed to you. With all its strength and brutality, the wild life impregnates, possesses and transforms you for ever. Laurent did not escape its hold, and this was beyond all his imagination before setting foot on the continent. From now on in danger, because the fragile balance which has always governed the harmony of the living has been upset, this ?terra incognita ubi sunt leones? (unknown land where lions live, as named by the geographers before its exploration), prey to the destruction of the wild species and natural spaces today only offers the remains of its past splendour. This is what Laurent intends to show us, the remaining parts of this Africa, one that existed before the arrival of white men, the last traces of a life-size world, entirely dedicated to the animal kingdom, sometimes gentle, often cruel, just as strong as it is vulnerable. His quest immortalises ephemeral moments that Nature wants to offer him, like many precious marvels. Laurent provides a vision of animal beauty which resounds in each of us. Which he refuses to allow to disappear?

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The artist

Laurent Baheux

Laurent Baheux was attracted to journalism and editing at first, rapidly discovering a passion for wildlife photography. He has always been fascinated by Africa. From 2002, during a visit to Tanzania, he began personal work on the wild fauna. From then on, he chose black and white, with its play of shadows, to immortalise rare and ephemeral natural scenes, constantly seeking to sublimate the animals, to capture the magnificence of their attitudes and the emotion of their gaze. His artistic career in black and white reached a turning point when he was nominated for the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2007 in the ?Creative Vision of Nature? category. Through a stylised aesthetic approach that stands out from traditional photography, Laurent Baheux magnifies the nature and wildlife he encounters, whether it be tigers, lions, giraffes, elephants, or migrating birds.